NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- For the documentary “My Rembrandt,” director Oeke Hoogendijk assembles an assortment of Rembrandt owners and experts whose interests in the Dutch master have, for different reasons, taken on faintly obsessive dimensions.
The Duke of Buccleuch in Scotland speaks of the subject of “Old Woman Reading” (1655) as if she were alive (“she is the most powerful presence in this house”) and strives to find the ideal viewing angle and lighting for the painting in a new room. Billionaire investor Thomas S. Kaplan, who has to pause when tallying how many Rembrandts he owns, recalls kissing one as soon as he had the legal right to do so.
The competition between the Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to purchase a pair of Rembrandts becomes a matter of national bragging rights. And Jan Six, an art dealer and descendant of one of Rembrandt’s most famous subjects, begins the movie thinking he’s found a previously unrecognized Rembrandt that’s been painted over and then stumbles on what he believes is another up for auction.
There’s no question that Six has a sharp eye (Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering eventually signs off on the discovery), but what’s more suggestive is his conviction that the painting is an “in-your-face” Rembrandt. Could anyone be so sure? Might an art dealer with this bloodline be primed to see Rembrandt everywhere? But Hoogendijk largely seems to take her subjects at face value. While “My Rembrandt” poses heady questions about the difference between acquisitiveness and appreciation, it mostly plays like a straight art-world documentary that itself would have benefited from a more vertiginous, obsessive approach.
PROTAGONISTS
JAN SIX X
Amsterdam’s oldest and still thriving aristocratic family is now represented by Jonkheer Jan Six van Hillegom X (1947) and his son Jan Six XI (1978). Jonkheer Jan Six is the 10th descendent in a straight line of the historical Amsterdam art collector of the same name, and he is the present inhabitant of the age-old residence of the Six family. Forever linked with Rembrandt through the portrait which Rembrandt painted of their ancestor Jan Six I, which is still on the wall in their house, he talks about Rembrandt as a family member. In doing so he carries Rembrandt effortlessly from the 17th into the 21st century. It is his mission in life to keep the collection together and accessible to the public. Before long the responsibility will be passed on to his son Jan Six XI. But will the young Six be prepared to devote his life with similar enthusiasm to the time-honored family possessions?
JAN SIX XI
For the youngest descendant of the Six dynasty the bar is set high. Jan Six XI tries to disengage himself from the scenario which family history has prepared him for: “Nobody wants to be pushed into a corner. All your life you hear that everything you do is in preparation of the following in the Jan Six footsteps. But hey, I’m an individual!” With love of Rembrandt’s art in his DNA, he goes through life as an art dealer and a Rembrandt detective. In MY REMBRANDT we follow him as he discovers and buys a painting he is convinced is by Rembrandt: “This painting will demonstrate that I am more than just my surname.” The spectacular success of his discovery leads to a veritable media coup, but all-important is the judgement of his friend and mentor, Professor Ernst van de Wetering, the authority when it comes to identifying Rembrandts. What if Jan, blinded by his goal, tries to fly too close to the sun like a contemporary Icarus?
PROFESSOR ERNST VAN DE WETERING
Ernst van de Wetering is undoubtedly the greatest Rembrandt expert in the world. He has devoted his whole life to research into Rembrandt’s work and nearly every single painting by Rembrandt has passed through his hands. Whether he attributes a given work to the Master is still decisive. Van de Wetering has to assess whether Jan Six’s discovery concerns a real Rembrandt, knowing full well what is at stake for his friend. When in film, he is face to face with the potentially ‘new’ Rembrandt, he reels and is literally breathless. Is it because he recognizes the mastery in the brush strokes?
THOMAS S. KAPLAN
The amazement of New York businessman, philanthropist, multimillionaire and art collector Thomas Kaplan was boundless when he discovered, in 2003, that was actually possible to buy a painting by Rembrandt. In 2007 he bought his first: Minerva. Ever since then he has been hunting down Rembrandt’s paintings. “There is nothing more lethal than passion and capital.” Today Kaplan owns fifteen paintings by Rembrandt, which makes him the owner of the largest private collection of Rembrandts in the world. We accompany Kaplan and his wife Daphne to exhibitions of his collection at the Louvre in Paris and Abu Dhabi. It is his mission to transplant Rembrandt’s paintings from the private domain to the public domain. He is convinced that Rembrandt’s painting can contribute to a better world: Rembrandt can save the world.
DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH
The dynasty of the Buccleuchs goes back to 1663, and they are among Europe’s richest private landowners. The Buccleuch art collection, built up by the ducal dynasty throughout the centuries, is regarded as one of the finest private art collections in the world, and Rembrandt’s Old woman reading has a place of honor in it. The painting was bought by an ancestor at the end of the 19th century and is cherished by the present-day Duke as one of the main occupants of the castle. After a burglary at the castle, fifteen years ago, the painting was re-hung in a high place, out of reach. It meant greater safety for the painting but it does not do justice to the portrait. We follow the Duke of Buccleuch in his personal quest of arranging a special room, just for her. “I want to bring her back to into family life again; I want to live with her”.
WIM PIJBES
“A diplomatic row? So what? Those Frenchmen are always ready for a row. It’s in their DNA. It doesn’t matter; they play hard, so what?” The former director of the Rijksmuseum is someone who believes in getting things done. But he is also a fighter and extremely ambitious; he is prepared to go through walls and has proven that he can do so. But his strength can also be his weakness. Ambitions set too high turns against him. He complicates the acquisition of Rembrandt’s wedding portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit by premature publicity and is forced to witness with regret that works are eventually bought jointly by France the Netherlands. His compelling revelation of the machinations behind the apparent success story of the joint purchase cannot hide his personal, painful disappointment.
TACO DIBBITS
Taco Dibbits, the present director of the Rijksmuseum, is ambitious as well as charming; with his blond hair and classically cut suits he is every inch a gentleman. When the wedding portraits from the De Rothschild collection are put on the market he goes on a secret mission to buy both of the paintings for the Rijksmuseum. “You realize that something of this importance hasn’t been on the market for the past 40 years and won’t come again. You’ve got one shot.” But when the Rijksmuseum, having considered the option of a joint purchase together with the Louvre, decides to try and buy two portraits on its own, it pushes the French to the extremes and a political row between the Netherlands and France is on the horizon.
BARON ERIC DE ROTHSCHILD
The sale of Marten and Oopjen literally leaves a void in the life of French Baron Eric de Rothschild. “They were in my bedroom. Every time I went to bed, Madame was just on the right of my bed and Monsieur on the left.” The businessman, viniculturist and art collector sells Marten and Oopjen with a degree of sadness, but for a considerable amount. Whether the family considers the sale to two different countries the most ideal construction, Baron de Rothschild keeps that knowledge to himself. He would rather reflect on what Rembrandt. Means to him: “You know when you look at Rembrandt’s paintings, the marvel is that there’s a freedom in them; he lets himself go. The older Rembrandt gets the more he becomes a free spirit. In fact his paintings are extraordinary free.”
EIJK & ROSE-MARIE DE MOL VAN OTTERLOO
The Van Otterloos are Dutch in origin but have lived in Boston (USA) nearly all their lives. That is where they built up their capital; they are passionate art collectors and the possible buyers of a Rembrandt discovered by Jan Six. Willy-nilly they become embroiled in the conflict between Six and the other art dealer, which is covered widely in the media. They are shocked by the feud between the two art dealers and don’t try to hide this fact. At the same time it’s clear that it will not stop them from buying Six’s painting. For the world of the Old Masters, business is business.
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'My Rembrandt'
Not rated. In English, Dutch and French, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. Watch through Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema.
